Cloth-measuring device.



No. 645,652; Patented Mxar. 20, |900. 0. E. WEBBER.

CLOTH MEASURING DEVICE.

(Application led Aug. 11, 1897.) (No Model.) 3Sheets-Sheet lA Mig/wg No.` 645,652. Patented Mar. 20, |900. 0. E. WEBBER.

CLOTH MEASUBING DEVICE.

(Application led Aug. 11, 1897.)

(No Model.)

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No. 645,652. Patented Mar. 20,1900.

o. E. WEBBER] CLOTH MESUHNEDEVICE. (Application led Aug. 11, 1897.)

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OLIVER E. WEBBER, OF MANNING, SOTH CAROLINA.

CeotH-Nll-:ASUR'ING DEVICE;

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 645,652, dated March 20, 19O.

Application filed August lll 1897. Serial No. 647,798. (No model.)

T0 @ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, OLIVER E. WEBBER, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Manning,'in the county of Clarendon and State of South Carolina, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Measuring Devices; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and eXact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The invention relates to improvementsrin cloth-measuring machines.

One object of the present invention is toY improve the construction of cloth-measuring machines and to provide a simple, inexpensive, and ecient one designed especially for measuring o rapidly and accurately the number of linear yards in bolts of cloth, dry goods, and other fabrics, including tapes, ribbons, and the like. A.

A further object of the invention is to provide a machine of this character adapted for measuring the contents of broken bolts or pieces of cloth, whereby a merchant may ascertain in the shortest possible space of time the exact number of yards and inches in such broken bolt.

The invention consists in the construction and novel combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and pointed out in the claims hereto appended. l

In the drawings, Figure l is a perspective View of a measuring-machine constructed-in is a central sectional View of the indicating mechanism.

Like numerals of reference designate'corresponding partsin all the figures of the drawings. v

1 designates the base of the supportingframe,which is provided with centrally-arthereof.

ranged uprights 2, located at oppositesides of the machine and supporting horizontal longitudinal bars 3, which are also supported by corner-posts 2", and the said longitudinal bars may be varied in length to provide a machine to suit the character of the material to be measured. The bars 3 are .provided at one end with bearings 4, in which is threaded a pair of short transverse centering-shafts 5, provided at their outer ends with suitable cranks or handles 6, by means of which they may be rotated for adjusting them. Theinner end of each of the short shafts 5 is provided with a substantially U -shaped clamping-head 7, having at their engaging ends or portions f 7 are provided at their transverse portions with openings, through which pass the innerv ends of the short shafts 5, and the latter have their inner journals enlarged to form heads or stops 7 n' to retain the clamping-heads in place. These shafts, which are provided with screw-threads 5a, receive nuts 7", which form inner stops for the clamping-heads 7, and by this construction the latter are swiveled to the short longitudinal centering-shafts and are adapted to rotate independently The short shafts 5 are capablel of longitudinal adjustment to enable the material to be Vcentered in the machine and to permit a bolt of cloth to be readily placed therein, and after the operation of measuring a piece of cloth or other fabric has been completed either of the short shafts may be drawn outward by unscrewing it to release the board upon Which the material is Wrapped before it was measured.

The longitudinal bars 3 are provided at their opposite ends with bearings l0 for a transverse shaft 1l, which is rotated by hand to operate the machine. The bearings 10 are open at their tops to permit of the readyl removal of the shaft ll, which is normally retained in place and held against accidental displacement by turn-buttons 12,"pivoted to the bars 3 at the inner sides of the bearings and adapted to project over the same, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 6 of the accompanying drawings.

-V-shaped notches 8, whereby they are adapt- -ed to receive and engage the ends of a board 8, upon which the bolt 9 ofecloth or other material is wrapped or wound. The heads vosv One end of the shaft 1l is provided with a crank-handle 13, by means of which it may be rotated, and adjacent to the crank-handle is arranged a pair of shoulders or flanges 14, spaced apart to receive the adjacent longitudinal bar 3, whereby the shaft is held against longitudinal movement in the bearings 12. Mounted upon said operating-shaft 1l at points between the ends thereof is a pair of clamps, each consisting of a sleeve or collar 15 and an arm or' linger 1G, adapted to engage a board 17, upon which the material is to be wound.` The clamps are capable of longitudinal adjustment 'to accommodate boards of any length within the limits of the machine,

and they are secured in such adjustment by` clamping-screws 1S, mounted on the sleeves 15 in threaded perforations thereof and engaging the shaft 11.

In operation the board 17 is engaged and held between the clamps at the central point on the shaft 11, and the free end of the cloth or other material is then wrapped around the said board17, whereby when the shaft 11 is rotated the material will be wound upon the board 17 and unwound from the board 8, upon which it was previously wrapped. The clot-h or other material as it is carried from one end of the machine to the other passes over a measuring-disk 20, mounted on a lower transverse shaft 19, located at the center of the machine and journaled in suitable bearings, as clearly illustrated in Figs. 1 and 3 of the accompanying drawings. The periphery of the measuring-disk, which is preferably covered with rubber, leather, or other suitable material to afford the necessary frictional contact with the goods to insure an operation of the registering mechanism, has its circumference equal to one yard and graduated into inches and fractions thereof; but a measuring-disk of any other size maybe employed, as will be readily apparent. The cloth or other fabric is maintained in contact with the periphery of the measuring disk or wheel 2O by an upper friction disk or wheel 2l, located above the measuring disk or wheel and having its periphery covered with leather or other suitable material, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 2 of the accompanying drawings. The cloth or other material passes beneath the disk or wheel 21, and-a positive rotation of the measuring disk or wheel is thereby obtained. The friction disk or wheel 2l is mounted Vupon an upper centrally-arranged transverse shaft 21, disposed in vertical alinement with the lower transverse shaft 19 and journaled at its ends in suitable bearings or blocks 22a. The blocks 22 aremountedupon thelongitudinal barsat points above the uprights 2 and are provided with suitable thumb-screws 34, located at the tops of the blocks-and arranged to engage the ends of the shaft 22 to regulate the friction, whereby the resistance or frictional engagement of the wheel 2l may be increased or diminished or relieved altogether, as desired.

The cloth or other material is guided and su pported by transverse rolls 23 and 24, located, respectively, in advance and in rear of the vertical plane of the shafts 19 and 22, the cloth or other material 9 passing under the roll 23 and over the roll 24, as clearly shownin Fig. 2. The rolls 23 and 24 are journaled in suitable bearings of plates 23 and 24a, secured to the inner faces of the longitudinal bars. One end of the shaft 19 is threaded or provided with a worm 25, which meshes with the periphery of a gear-wheel 26, mounted upon a short transverse shaft 26a, journaled in arms of a bracket 27. The bracket 2 7 is composed of two L-shaped sections or plates secured to the inner face of the adjacent upright 2 and extending horizontally therefrom. Mounted upon the shaft 26 is a dial 28, graduated at or near its periphery, and such graduations are adapted to register with a stationary pointer or indicator `29, rigidly mounted on one of the rarms of the bracket 27 and extending upward therefrom. The gear-wheel 26 and the dial 28 are capable of independent rotation, the latter being preferably mounted upon the sleeve 30, which carries a ratchetdisk 31, adapted to be engaged bya pawl 13, pivotaily mounted on the gear-wheel 2G and held in engagement with the ratchet-teeth by means of a spring 33. This construction permits the graduated disk to be, rotated independently of the, gear-wheel in order to return the same to the initial or starting point when one piece of goods has been measured and it is desired to arrange the machine for measuring another. The graduated dial will indicate the number of revolutions of the Ameasuring-disk and the peripheral graduations of the latter will indicate inches and fractions thereof.

It will be seen that the measuring-machine is simple and comparatively inexpensive in construction, that itis positive, reliable, and accurate in its operation, and that it is capable of indicating at a glance the exact contents of a piece of goods in yards and inches.

Changes in the form, proportion, size, and the minor details of construction within the scope of the appended claims maybe resorted 4to without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of this invention.

What is claimed is--r 1. A machine of the class described com'- prising a frame, a lower measuring-Wheel located at the center of `the frame, an upper friction-wheel, a pair of transverse shafts supporting thesaid wheels and journaled in suitablebearin gs of the frame, the transverse guide-rollers located in advance and in rear of the said wheels and arranged to engage the fabric at the lower and upper faces thereof, short transverse shafts arranged at one end of the machine and adapted to receive the bolt to be measured, an operating-shaft de-' tachably mounted at the other end of the frame and arranged lto receive the material IOO as it is measured, a bracket arranged at one side of the machine and. composed of two L- shaped members, a transverse shaft mounted on the outwardly-extending arms of the L-shaped members, a Worm carried by the shaft upon which the measuring-wheel is mounted, a gear-wheel mounted on the short transverse shaft, adjacent to one of the members of the bracket and meshing with the said worm, a sleeve also mounted on the short shaft and interposed between the members of the bracket, a ratchet-wheel mounted on the sleeve at the rear end thereof, a graduated disk frictionally engaging the sleeve at the frontend thereof, carried by the same and adapted to be rotated independently thereof by hand, a spring-actuated paw mountedl on the gear-wheel and engaging the ratchet- Wheel, and a fixed pointer located adjacent to the front end of the short shaft, substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. In a machine of the class described, the

`combination of a transverse shaft provided at one end with a worm, a measuring-wheel mounted on the shaft, a bracket composed of a pair of L-shaped members, a short shaft secured to the outwardly-extending arms of the L-shaped members, a sleeve mounted on the short shaft, a gear-wheel also mounted on the short shaft and interposed between the rear end of the sleeve and the adjacent L-shaped member and meshing with the worm,a ratchetwheel' carried by the sleeve and arranged at the rear end thereof, a spring-actuated pawl pivoted to the gear-wheel and engaging the ratchet-wheel, a graduated disk frictionally engaging the front end of the sleeve and carried by the latter and adapted to be rotated independently thereof, by hand, and a fixed pointer supported by the shaft and interposed between the front member of the bracket and the graduated disk, substantially as described.

vIn testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

OLIVER E. WEBBER. Witnesses:

` P. B. MOUZUR,

A. J. WHITE, Jra 

